I usually plan all the travels that we do, whether with friends, family, officemates, or even for other people (I have a travel organizing business), but when my friend Claire mentioned to me that there are free Saigon tours with students, it's a no-brainer that we should try booking with them.
I wasn't expecting anything anyway. This Vietnam trip of ours is just a slow down and chill trip because this is a Babymoon.
Saigon Hotpot
When I tried booking on their website, it looked very professional and full of advocacy. They have various tours such as City Tour, Chinatown Tour, Night Food Tour, Saigon Inside and Out (Food Tour), and Tailor-Made Tour (yes, you build your itinerary and they will be your local companion). They offer half-day or full-day tours depending on your itinerary.
Saigon Hotpot was established in 2006. Its mission is to promote cultural exchange and the beauty of Vietnam, provide memorable walking tours to foreigners, and create a proactive environment for local students to improve their interpersonal skills in communication and problem-solving. In short, to improve their English communication.
Honestly, with our experience, the latter is no longer needed! Our guides are very good English speakers!
Let me repeat in case you missed it, this is a FREE guided tour with students. What you need to cover are your transportation (if needed, and in our case, Grab) and their meals.
Our Experience
We initially booked the Chinatown (Cho Lon) Tour only, but during our tour, we decided to do the Night Food Tour on the same day as well.
Chinatown (Cho Lon) Tour
Cho Lon, or the Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh City, is one of the least visited areas in the city. I wanted to explore this area because I knew that it would offer a local experience and that it has a lot of stories.
Our two lovely guides met us at our hotel in the Ben Thanh area at around 8 AM, and from there, we took a Grab going to our first destination.
We visited a total of five destinations, namely Thien Hau Pagoda, Cho Lon Market Area, St. Francis Xavier Church, Binh Tay Market, and lastly, Hao Sy Phuong Apartment, where we had our maternity shoot.
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| Hao Sy Phuong Apartment |
You may watch our exploration on our YouTube Channel.
We ended the tour at Papa Lee's Noodle Kitchen in time for lunch. During our lunch, we exchanged stories about our travels, food, life, among other things. Our guides are confident and intelligent students. They shared their student life and how they live in the city away from their families.
They were very generous and enthusiastic about sharing their culture and country. I asked them how Saigon Hotpot changed their lives, and honestly, I did not need an answer because I was already seeing it.
It's worth saying that what they are doing is purely volunteerism.
Night Food Tour
When our guide told us that the food tour was going to be in District 4, a local residential area, I was thrilled because it meant that this was going to be a true cultural immersion. It's going to be in an alley where locals usually eat, wow!
We met at 6 PM on the same day, and we took a Grab from Book Street to District 4. We were greeted by a traffic jam of cars and motorcycles in an alley where food stalls were lined up.
It was chaotic and very local!
We were extra careful because my wife is pregnant, and there were vehicles everywhere. Nothing happened, though, because our guides were extra caring towards my wife. Thank you!
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| Clockwise: Banh Xeo, Fried Ice Cream, Banh Mi, Ban Khot and Bun Moc |
Each meal that we ate did not exceed 50K VND, and for most of them, we had to share to save space in our tummy. We tried the following: Banh Xeo, Banh Khot, Bun Moc, Che, Fried Ice Cream, and to cap it all, Banh Mi!
You may watch the full food experience on our YouTube Channel.
Our Tour Guides Turned Friends in Saigon
Our guides were Diep and Vy—two lovely ladies who were very attentive to us and very enthusiastic about sharing their culture.
They have rhythm and strategy in touring us. For instance, Diep would be the lead while Vy would be the sweeper to make sure all of us were following and safe. In sharing stories about an attraction, they shared the spotlight and made sure that the information was accurate.
When I booked it online, I was wondering why we needed two guides. We were only four in the group.
The number of guides turned out to be perfectly fine. In fact, the ratio of guides to tourists is 1:3 and 2:4–6. The maximum number of tourists per tour group is six. More than six, and you will be declined.
If you are more than six, maybe you can do a separate booking on their site. The acceptance, though, is subject to the availability of the volunteer guides.
Back to Diep and Vy, when we ended both tours, we gave them a tip and a gift. This is not required, but we were very happy and we wanted to give them something for their Grab going back home, maybe.
Later on, they messaged us saying that they would donate a portion of what we gave to their club, Saigon Hotpot.
Reading that, we knew that we did the right thing by giving them a tip.
We also gifted them with a Philippine Peso bill as their souvenir.
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| Vy and Diep |
Overall, our experience with Saigon Hotpot was beyond what we expected. We booked a free guided tour, but what we got was more than just a tour. We experienced the local side of Ho Chi Minh City, learned more about Vietnamese culture, tried amazing food, and most importantly, gained two new friends in Saigon.
If you're visiting Ho Chi Minh City and looking for a different experience, especially one that allows you to interact with locals and explore beyond the usual tourist attractions, then I highly recommend trying Saigon Hotpot.
You may book your FREE Guided Tour through Saigon Hotpot's website.
